I don’t own any Billy Joel records, but I’m a huge fan of the man—especially his work ethic. Whether or not you like his music, there’s a good reason why he has continued to sell out Madison Square Garden every month for more than five years—he leaves it all onstage.

At the time of this interview, in 1994, Joel was 44 and touring in support of “River of Dreams,” which turned out to be his last studio album. He was married to supermodel Christie Brinkley, and his daughter Alexa Ray was 8 years old. In addition, his career was again on the upswing after taking a financial hit in the late 1980s. In other words, he was touring to support his work, not just to pay the bills.

In doing interviews for a daily newspaper, my focus typically was on the artist’s current tour or project. But I wanted to know about Billy Joel’s early years and how he became the musician and star he was. I’d read many interviews with him, and that subject matter never seemed to come up. So I especially like the results of this conversation.

Some context for this interview:

-For more about Frank Sinatra getting cut off at the Grammys, visit here.

-I asked him about his five best songs, and the list is surprising because none of those songs made it on his three greatest-hits records. He didn’t ask for my list, but if he had, I think I would have said “Scenes From An Italian Restaurant,” “The Entertainer,” “The Ballad of Billy the Kid,” “Angry Young Man” and “Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel).” 

-This interview contains one of my favorite things anyone’s ever said to me: “I’m pretty Billy Joel-ed out.” That still makes me laugh.

For more about Billy Joel: https://www.billyjoel.com/